The Montreal Alouettes defeated the Saskatchewan Roughriders 19-14 in Saturday’s rain-soaked CFL game at Mosaic Stadium.

Saskatchewan’s winning streak was snapped at four games. The loss left Saskatchewan, which has been eliminated from playoff contention, with a 5-11 record.

“It wasn’t any fun at all, but that’s just football,” Roughriders quarterback Darian Durant said. “You have to be ready to play no matter the elements. We have to be able to pull out a win no matter the situation.”

The Riders’ offence was in a number of bad situations, thanks in large part to the play of Montreal’s defence.

“They are a good defence and nothing has changed about them,” Durant said. “They have always been the most physical defence in the league and they come to play each and every week. They have a lot of veterans that know how to win and how to play a physical brand of football. You saw that out there today.”

That said, Durant felt the Riders’ offence could have performed much better against Montreal (5-11).

“There were a lot of factors that came into play, but we just got whipped as an offence,” he said. “We had our defence on the field way too much. They were getting two-and-outs, sacks and pressures and we just couldn’t move the ball. I wouldn’t say it was a step back, but we didn’t have the production we would have liked.”

Durant played the entire game even though Roughriders head coach Chris Jones had indicated beforehand that he would like to evaluate younger quarterbacks at some point in the proceedings.

“The Number 1 goal was to try and win the football game,” Jones said. “We gave ourself a chance to tie it. It would have been to have a two-touchdown (lead) and be able to evaluate our young quarterbacks. I’m not going to put any young quarterback into the game down against a defence like that with the weather like that. It’s not fair to him. I wouldn’t get a good, solid evaluation with a young guy like that.”

The Alouettes opened the scoring at 3:11 of the first quarter when Boris Bede kicked a 49-yard field goal.

Bede added a 24-yard field goal at 10:12 of the opening frame to put the Alouettes ahead 6-0.

Saskatchewan got on the board at 3:51 of the second quarter when Montreal conceded a safety touch. The Alouettes were hemmed in when a Josh Bartel punt went out of bounds at the two-yard line.

Tyler Crapigna kicked a 42-yard field goal at 13:24 of the second quarter to pull Saskatchewan to within 6-5.

Montreal went ahead 13-5 when Bede converted a two-yard touchdown run by Sam Giguere, who scored at 7:52 of the third quarter. Giguere scored one play after a hit by Chip Cox forced a fumble by Durant.

Alouettes quarterback Vernon Adams Jr., hit Marcus Henry with a 22-yard touchdown pass at 1:59 of the third quarter to give Montreal a 19-5 lead. The convert attempt was unsuccessful.

Saskatchewan closed the gap with seven minutes left in the fourth quarter when Durant ran for a 10-yard touchdown. Crapigna’s convert made it 19-12.

The Roughriders reached Montreal’s seven-yard line before a third-and-four gamble was unsuccessful with 1:10 remaining in the fourth quarter.

The Alouettes conceded a safety touch with 26 seconds left. The Riders got the ball back on their 35-yard line and advanced to Montreal’s 47-yard line before a Durant fumble was recovered and advanced by tailback Joe McKnight, who was knocked out of bounds at the Alouettes’ 17-yard line with no time remaining.

Saskatchewan is to return to action Oct. 29, 5 p.m., against the B.C. Lions in the final game at old Mosaic Stadium.

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